There, Where I Can See You

One child’s moving search for her lost mother

Nine-year-old Maja is growing up in a dysfunctional family – a tyrannical father, a loving but oppressed mother, and a good scattering of things that are kept quiet and nobody will explain to her. When Frank, Maja's father, murders her mother, he tears a hole in the world – not only for Maja, but also for all the others who are left behind. From one moment to the next, nothing remains as it was before. Deeply grieving, Maja is tossed about by custody battles and the bureaucracy. Amidst the applications and legal jurisdictions, she loses her family, her home, and her sense of security; she is no longer certain who she belongs to.

Maja’s godmother, Liv, becomes her only glimmer of hope. Liv works as an astrophysicist and fills Maja with enthusiasm for the wonders of the universe while at the same time struggling with her own insecurities, old anxieties, and the burden of suddenly having to assume responsibility. Nevertheless, Liv and Maja grow closer, peering through a telescope into endless space and searching for answers that no one else can provide.

This is a novel about the repercussions of violence, about structural failure, and the way a community unravels when a femicide shatters everything. Narrated from several perspectives, it unfolds a panorama of a family experiencing a state of emergency in a society that continues to sidestep the structural core of violence.

A star on the horizon - Jasmin Schreiber shows that even in darkness consolation can still be found

A sensitive and cautious exploration of an important topic

A captivating melding of a fascination with outer space and coming to terms with grief